The Women of Deadpool: There Are No Small Roles

“Deadpool” is all about that dangerous, dorky, deviant dude, but here are a few fun facts about the women of Deadpool:

Morena Baccarin

(Vanessa Carlyle: Deadpool’s girlfriend)

(L–R) Wade (Ryan Reynolds) and his future baby mama Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) get up close and personal. (TM/Marvel & Subs/TM and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation)

She’s Brazillian-American, and her full name is Morena Silva de Vaz Setta Baccarin. Known mostly for her character Jessica Brody in the Showtime’s “Homeland,” she moved on to the Fox TV series “Gotham.”

Born in Rio de Janiero, she moved to New York’s Greenwich Village at age 7, and attended high school with her future “Homeland” co-star, Claire Danes. Then, on to the famed Juillard School, after which, classically-trained, she became Natalie Portman’s understudy in “The Seagull.”

As Clint Eastwood’s acting coach used to tell him, “Don’t just do something—stand there!”

Billed in the “Deadpool” intro credits as “The Hot Chick,” she plays a prostitute with a dark, snarky humor that matches Deadpool’s. Though tough and gritty, she’s basically the damsel in distress.

Having done a fair amount of sci-fi shows, Baccarin is used to fans geeking out when they meet her. In an interview with Express’s Simon Button, she said, “I’ve had some strange fan encounters, that’s for sure. Nothing threatening or terrible but sometimes people ask me to marry them, which is a little odd.”

She relates, furthermore, that Brazil is still very much in her blood. “I grew up in the States, but I go back to Brazil quite often and a big part of me is very Brazilian, so there’s a constant struggle between the two cultures within me.”

Now, with the record-breaking success of “Deadpool,” Morena Silva de Vaz Setta Baccarin should become a solid A-lister.

Gina Carano

(Angel Dust)

Gina Carano’s an American actress, fitness model, and former mixed martial artist (MMA), who first trained straight Muay Thai, then segued into competitive MMA.

She was called the “Face of women’s MMA” (a title she rejected) and compiled a competitive record of 12–1–1 in Muay Thai, and 7–1 in MMA.

On TV, Carano performed on the revamped “American Gladiators.” Her film acting debut was in Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 action flick “Haywire,” after which came “Fast & Furious 6” (2013). Now, she plays the very formidable Angel Dust in “Deadpool.”

Carano has a “small percentage” of Italian ancestry, and sports runs in her ancestry as well—her dad played for the Dallas Cowboys as a backup quarterback.

Brianna Hildebrand

(L–R) Having enjoyed a leisurely cab drive, Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is ready for battle, joined by Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand). (TM/Marvel & Subs/TM and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation)

The brand-new-to-the-Biz, 5′ 3″ Brianna Hildebrand is 19 years old and from Texas. She’s primarily known for the web series “Annie Undocumented.” This is her superhero film debut, and she already landed the character with the coolest name ever—Negasonic Teenage Warhead—since her supernormal ability is sort of electric and atomic at the same time. Kind of how surly teenagers feel when life is at its gloomiest and uncoolest.

Leslie Uggams

Actress Leslie Uggams attends “Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar & Grill” Opening Night at Circle in the Square on April 13, 2014 in New York City. (Brad Barket/Getty Images)

Leslie Uggams plays the hilarious role of “Blind Al,” Deadpool’s landlady, who has a thing for IKEA and the proper Swedish pronunciations of that furniture line.

She was born in 1943 in New York City. She’s an actress with a long showbiz resume and trained, like Morena Baccarin, at the Julliard School. Also a board member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Uggams made her national television debut at age 6 on the TV series “Beulah,” (Beulah was played by Ethel Waters) portraying Beulah’s niece.

Qualified, Much?

The art of acting is the least understood, most underrated, and most underestimated of the seven great arts. If you see Jimi Hendrix play the guitar you say, “That’s hard.” If you see the Bolshoi Ballet, you say, “That’s hard.” If you see Clint Eastwood sitting on a horse, squinting into the distance and saying nothing, you say, “That’s easy, I could do that.”

But as Clint Eastwood’s acting coach used to tell him, “Don’t just do something—stand there!” Sounds easy, but under the scrutiny of cameras, or an audience, that’s a highly difficult thing to pull off believably. It’s easy to forget how trained and qualified one has to be, to play even minor roles on the big screen.

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